High-precision and high-efficiency machining of scroll compressor components

Fixed and orbiting scrolls of scroll compressor components have spiral grooves known as scroll wraps. High-precision contour milling using end mills is the best method to produce these scrolls. The aim of our present work is to recognize the mechanism of tool wear on end mills in bottom face machining and to reduce tool wear in highly efficient milling. This paper describes an effective coolant supply system to the cutting point and an appropriate tool geometry developed in the study. The following conclusions can be drawn: (1) By supplying coolant to the cutting edge through the center hole of the tool at a cutting speed of 230 m/min, the wear rate of the flank wear can be reduced to approximately 1/50 of the wear observed in conventional coolant supply. (2) The optimal back clearance angle is 5° for abrasive resistance in the turning operation. (3) By applying 5° to the back clearance angle, the wear rate of the corner edge can be reduced to 1/6 of that observed when the back clearance angle was 15°.     

Quantitative analysis of transient surface reactions on planar catalyst with time-resolved time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A procedure for the quantitative analysis of transient surface catalytic reactions in millisecond time resolution has been studied constructing a specially designed apparatus employing (1) pulsed-gas valves for the injection of reactant molecules onto catalysts and (2) a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS) to detect every reaction product simultaneously. For a better understanding of the catalytic activity and selectivity for products quantitatively, a procedure for measuring an amount of reactant molecules injected onto catalyst surface and calibrating the intensity of mass signal were proposed and implemented. We tested the applicability of this procedure for the quantitative analysis of products of NO+H(2) reaction on Pt-Al(2)O(3) catalysts (a planar catalyst: Pt-Al(2)O(3)Si substrates inserted into a micro-tube-reactor with SiC balls). Although the surface area of the planar catalyst was very small, the mass signal intensities of the reaction products were found to be sufficient for the above procedure. We measured the fragmentation patterns and the inherent sensitivity factors in the TOF-MS using the mixture of the internal standard gas Ar and the N-containing gases. The relative sensitivity factors for NH(3), N(2), NO, and N(2)O and the relative intensities of fragment peaks to the molecular ion peak of H(2)O and N(2)O were estimated. The procedure constructed here has enabled us to analyze the transient consecutive secondary catalytic reactions as well as primary reactions based on the formation rate of product molecules per millisecond instead of the mass signal intensities of the reaction products.     

Highly efficient manufacture of groove with sharp corner on adjoining surfaces by 6-axis control ultrasonic vibration cutting

Rapid machining means the extreme reduction of the machining lead-time required in completing a product from the blank shape. One of the ways in which machining lead-time could be reduced drastically is by avoiding too many setup changes. This paper presents a new machining method to create a groove with sharp corner on adjoining surfaces in one setup. Grooves with sharp corner (GSC) on adjoined curved or overhanging surfaces are at present impossible to manufacture by conventional machining in one setup or even by the existing numerical control (NC) machining method especially if it is adjacent to the obstruction. The obstruction tends to hamper the flow of machining operation, thereby requiring two or more setups as well as additional expensive fixtures to machine such a product.

In the study, the GSC on adjoined curved or overhanging surfaces will be manufactured by 6-axis control milling using a non-rotational tool with the application of ultrasonic vibrations (USV) in one setup. The study also describes the machining method as well as the development of software for 6-axis control milling and the effect of ultrasonic vibrations in multi-axis machining. Based on the experimental results, the effectiveness of the new manufacturing method as well as the developed CAM software has been experimentally confirmed in the study.     

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with marked hypervascularity

Anomalous continuation of the inferior vena cava with an azygous vein is a rare vacular anomaly. The enlarged venous system may simulate adenopathies or mediastinal and retroperitoneal masses on the radiographs. We describe the case of a patient with lung cancer - a pathological condition which may cause adenopathies at these sites - and a dilated azygous-hemiazygous system resulting from failure of formation of the hepatic segment of the inferior vena cava.     

Bicriteria sequencing for just-in-time mixed-model assembly lines

Under a Just-In-Time (JIT) pull system the sequencing of products requires the satisfaction of two main goals: (1) keeping a constant rate of usage of parts, and (2) smoothing the workload at work stations to avoid line stoppages. By using a practical observation related to JIT delivery systems we propose a two-step approach, where in the first step we consider only goal (1) by applying a benchmark heuristic. In the second step we focus on goal (2), by investigating the effectiveness of a spacing-constraint based approach, commonly used in the automotive industry, in comparison with a more general time-based one. We designed and conducted a simulation experiment based on the practical situation of final assembly lines and we found that the benchmark heuristic represents an appropriate choice for step one (based on a new performance measure that represents a lower bound on variation in parts utilization). For the second step, related to workload smoothing, the spacing-constraint based method presents better achievement than the time-based one.     

Electrostatic immobilization of cetylpyridinium chloride to poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels for the simple fabrication of wound dressings with the suppressed release of antibacterial agents

Polymeric systems for antibacterial wound dressings require chemical reactions or syntheses for attaching or incorporating antibacterial moieties into polymer backbones. However, these materials often fail to satisfy the basic requirements, such as easy and inexpensive synthesis. We speculated that a positively charged organic antibacterial agent would be attracted to the polar groups of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels and would show suppressed release. PVA hydrogels containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) were prepared by γ irradiation. CPC was barely released from the hydrogels, probably because of electrostatic interactions, and was stable upon γ irradiation. The suppressed release of CPC conferred antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli to the surface of the hydrogels, whereas no inhibition zone was observed around the hydrogels. The CPC‐containing PVA hydrogels were easy to prepare and contained known and safe materials. The simplicity and safety of this procedure for achieving the suppressed release of antibacterial agents were advantages of these CPC‐containing PVA hydrogels. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40456.     

Abundance of cyclo (His-Pro)-like immunoreactivity in the brain of TRH-deficient mice

Cyclo(His-Pro) or CHP was initially discovered as a metabolite of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) resulting from the action of the enzyme Pyroglutamyl aminopeptidase. Physiologic and pharmacologic studies that followed this initial discovery provided indirect evidence that all CHP may not be derived from TRH. However, the recent availability of a TRH-deficient mouse has made it possible to reinvestigate whether CHP is derived from TRH. In the present study, we examined distribution of CHP and TRH in TRH-deficient mice. Northern blot analysis confirmed the absence of preproTRH mRNA in both the hypothalamus and the cortex of TRH-deficient mice. Brains from the wild-type and TRH-deficient mice were dissected into 7 regions, and TRH and CHP concentrations were determined by specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) in each region. Whereas TRH was identified in all regions of the wild-type brain, with the highest concentration in the hypothalamus, no detectable TRH was observed in any region in the TRH-deficient mice. While CHP-like immunoreactivity (CHP-LI) was present in all regions in the wild-type brain, its concentration was reduced by approximately 50% in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex of TRH-deficient mice, with no change in other brain regions. Furthermore, the CHP-LI present in the brain of TRH-deficient mice was immunologically and chromatographically identical to synthetic CHP. These findings strongly suggest that a portion of the CHP in the brain is derived from sources other than TRH.     

Visualization of optical phenomena caused by multilayer films based on wave optics

This paper proposes a method for rendering objects coated with multilayer thin films, taking into consideration multiple reflection and refraction, interference, and absorption of light inside the films. The proposed method is based on wave optics, and it can accurately visualize the optical effects of multilayer films consisting of not only dielectric materials, but also metallic and semiconductive materials. Optical properties of a SiO₂ film coating on a silicon base, and several kinds of multilayer films coating windowpanes, glasses, or teapots are visualized to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method.